Metal capacitor in damascene structures

ABSTRACT

A metal capacitor in damascene structures is provided. A first Cu wire and a second Cu wire are located in a first insulator. A first sealing layer is located on the first and the second Cu wires. A second insulator is located on the first sealing layer. A third insulator is located on the second insulator, and acting as an etch stop layer. A first Cu plug and a second Cu plug are located in the first sealing layer, the second insulator and the third insulator. A capacitor is located on the third insulator and the first Cu plug, the capacitor having an upper electrode, a capacitor dielectric and a bottom electrode with the same pattern each other, wherein the bottom electrode is connected to the first Cu wire through the first Cu plug. A conducting wire is located on the third insulator and the second Cu plug, wherein the conducting wire is connected to the second Cu wire through the second Cu plug. A fourth insulator is located on the conducting wire. A fifth insulator with a flat surface is located on the upper electrode, the fourth insulator and the third insulator. A plurality of dual damascene structures including a third plug, a fourth Cu plug, a third Cu wire and a fourth Cu wire are located in the fifth insulator, wherein an upper electrode of the capacitor is connected to the third Cu wire through the third Cu plug, and the conducting wire is connected to the fourth Cu wire through the fourth Cu plug. A second sealing layer is located on the third and fourth Cu wires.

This application is a continuation-in-part of U.S. application Ser. No. 09/881,102, filed Jun. 15, 2001 now U.S. Pat. No. 6,610,386, and a continuation in part of U.S. application Ser. No. 09/881,101, filed Jun. 15, 2001, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,358,792, now allowed.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates in general to an integrated circuit including capacitors. In particular, the present invention relates to a metal capacitor in damascene structures.

2. Description of the Related Art

Capacitors are deployed in various integrated circuits. For example, decoupling capacitors provide improved voltage regulation and noise immunity for power distribution. Capacitors also have wide applications in analog/logic, analog-to-digital, mixed signal, radio frequency circuit operations, and others.

A conventional method of manufacturing a semiconductor apparatus including a capacitor 20 that is formed of metal-insulator-metal layers is described with reference to FIGS. 1A˜1D. As shown in FIG. 1A, an aluminum layer is deposited on an insulator 12 which contains interconnections and is formed on a silicon substrate having devices (not shown) thereon and therein. The aluminum layer is then patterned by masking and etching to form wires 14 a and 14 b. As shown in FIG. 1B, an insulator 16 with a tungsten plug 18 (hereafter “W-plug”) used to connect the aluminum wire 14 a and the to-be-formed capacitor is formed on the aluminum wires 14 a and 14 b and the insulator 12. As shown in FIG. 1C, a first conductive plate 21, an insulator 22 and a second conductive plate 23 are sequentially deposited on the insulator 16 and the W-plug 18, and then patterned by masking and etching to obtain a capacitor 20. The first conductive plate 21, the lower electrode, is connected with the aluminum wire 14 a through the W-plug 18. Another insulator 26 is deposited on the insulator 16 and the capacitor 20. The insulators 16 and 26 are patterned and W-plug 28 a and W-plug 28 b are formed therein. As shown in FIG. 1D, an aluminum layer is deposited on the insulator 26 and the W-plugs 28 a and 28 b. The aluminum layer is then patterned by masking and etching to form wires 34 a and 34 b. The aluminum wire 34 a is connected with the second conductive plate 23 through the W-plug 28 a. The aluminum wire 34 b is connected with the aluminum wire 14 b through the W-plug 28 b.

The above-mentioned traditional processes for integrating the capacitor 20 into an integrated circuit require several masking and etching steps to form the capacitor 20, which may increase overall fabrication costs.

As well, the aluminum used to fabricate the traditional interconnections cannot satisfy present-day requirements for enhanced integration and highly demanding speeds of data transmission. Copper (Cu) has high electric conductivity to reduce RC delay and can be substituted for the aluminum in the conductive wires. The use of copper in the conductive wires requires the use of processes, that is, damascene processes, because copper cannot be patterned by etching. This is because the boiling point of the copper chloride (CuCl₂) produced by copper and the chlorine plasma usually used to etch metal is relatively high, about 1500° C.

A thin-film capacitor formed by combining with the Cu damascene process is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,180,976 B1. In the '976 B1 patent, the lower electrode of the thin-film capacitor is also formed by the damascene process. The '976 B1 patent has the advantage of saving a masking step. However, a chemical mechanical polishing process is required to remove undesired metal residue to form the lower electrode. Dishing is likely to occur on the lower electrode and result in an uneven surface. Therefore, the thickness of the insulator can not be kept uniform to stabilize the electrical properties of the capacitors.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention provides a metal capacitor in damascene structures. A first Cu wire and a second Cu wire are located in a first insulator. A first sealing layer is located on the first and the second Cu wires. A second insulator is located on the first sealing layer. A third insulator is located on the second insulator, and acting as an etch stop layer. A first Cu plug and a second Cu plug are located in the first sealing layer, the second insulator and the third insulator. A capacitor is located on the third insulator and the first Cu plug, the capacitor having an upper electrode, a capacitor dielectric and a bottom electrode with the same pattern each other, wherein the bottom electrode is connected to the first Cu wire through the first Cu plug. A conducting wire is located on the third insulator and the second Cu plug, wherein the conducting wire is connected to the second Cu wire through the second Cu plug. A fourth insulator is located on the conducting wire. A fifth insulator with a flat surface is located on the upper electrode, the fourth insulator and the third insulator. A plurality of dual damascene structures including a third plug, a fourth Cu plug, a third Cu wire and a fourth Cu wire are located in the fifth insulator, wherein an upper electrode of the capacitor is connected to the third Cu wire through the third Cu plug, and the conducting wire is connected to the fourth Cu wire through the fourth Cu plug. A second sealing layer is located on the third and fourth Cu wires.

These and other objects of the present invention will become readily apparent upon further review of the following specification and drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The present invention will become more fully understood from the detailed description given herein and the accompanying drawings, given by way of illustration only and thus not intended to be limitative of the present invention.

FIGS. 1A˜1D depict the method for integrating the capacitors into the interconnection processes according to the prior art.

FIGS. 2A˜2L depict the method for forming a metal capacitor in a damascene process according to the embodiment of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

The present invention provides a metal capacitor in damascene structures, as shown in FIG. 2L. A first Cu wire 104 a and a second Cu wire 104 b are located in a first insulator 106. A first sealing layer 108 is located on the first Cu wire 104 a and the second Cu wire 104 b. A second insulator 116 is located on the first sealing layer 108. A third insulator 118 is located on the second insulator 116, and acting as an etch stop layer. A first Cu plug 124 a and a second Cu plug 124 b are located in the first sealing layer 108, the second insulator 116 and the third insulator 118. A capacitor 132 is located on the third insulator 118 and the first Cu plug 124 a, the capacitor 132 having an upper electrode 130 a, a capacitor dielectric 128 a and a bottom electrode 126 a with the same pattern each other, wherein the bottom electrode 126 a is connected to the first Cu wire 104 a through the first Cuplug 124 a. A conducting wire 126 b is located on the third insulator 118 and the second Cu plug 124 b, wherein the conducting wire 126 b is connected to the second Cu wire 104 b through the second Cu plug 124 b. A fourth insulator 128 b is located on the conducting wire 126 b. A fifth insulator 138 with a flat surface is located on the upper electrode 130, the fourth insulator 128 b and the third insulator 118. A plurality of dual damascene structures including a third plug 146 a, a fourth Cu plug 146 b, a third Cu wire 148 a and a fourth Cu wire 148 b are located in the fifth insulator 138, wherein an upper electrode 130 a of the capacitor 132 is connected to the third Cu wire 148 a through the third Cu plug 146 a, and the conducting wire 126 b is connected to the fourth Cu wire 148 b through the fourth Cu plug 148 a. A second sealing layer 150 is located on the third wire 148 a and the fourth Cu wire 148 b.

A method for forming the above-mentioned structure is given in the following embodiment. The present invention provides a method to fabricate a thin-film capacitor which can be integrated into the Cu damascene processes. The thin-film capacitor has an insulator with a uniform thickness and a flat surface. Before the thin-film capacitor is formed, the underlying interconnections are fabricated with Cu metal by damascene processes. The capacitor is formed by depositing a first metal layer, an insulator and a second metal layer. The stacked layers are then subjected to a masking process and an etching process to form the thin-film capacitor and the metal wire with the remaining insulator and the remaining second metal layer thereon. The remaining second metal layer located on the metal wire is removed using another masking process and another etching process. After forming the capacitor and the metal wire, the upper interconnections are fabricated with Cu metal by damascene processes.

Embodiment

A method for forming a metal capacitor in a damascene process according to the first embodiment of the present invention is described below with reference to FIGS. 2A˜2L.

Referring to FIG. 2A, the insulator 106 is formed on the insulator 102. The insulator 102 may include interconnections, and the insulator 102 is formed on a substrate, for example silicon semiconductor substrate, which includes numerous devices thereon and therein. The particular designs of the underlying integrated circuit have not been shown in order to highlight the various aspects of the present invention. Copper wires 104 a and 104 b, preferably about 2,000˜6,000 Å, are formed in the insulator 106 by a damascene process. For example, first, trenches are formed in the insulator 106, and the barrier layer (not shown) is conformally formed on the insulator 106. After copper metal is formed on the barrier layer and fills in the trenches, a chemical mechanical polish process is executed to remove the undesired copper and barrier layer. A sealing layer 108, preferably about 100˜1000 Åin thickness, is formed at least on the Cu wires 104 a and 104 b. In this figure the sealing layer 108 is formed on the insulator 106 and the Cu wires 104 a and 104 b as an example. The material of the sealing layer 108 can be silicon nitride or silicon carbide.

Referring to FIG. 2B, the insulator 116 and the insulator 118 which is acted as an etch stop layer are sequentially formed on the sealing layer 108. The material of the insulator layer 118, for example silicon nitride (SiN), is different from that of the insulator 116, for example silicon dioxide (SiO₂). The photoresist layer 120 with via patterns covers the insulator 118.

Referring to FIG. 2C, the via patterns of the photoresist layer 120 are transferred into the insulator 118, the insulator 116 and the sealing layer 108 to form vias exposing the contact regions of the Cu wires 104 a and 104 b. The photoresist layer 120 is then removed by, for example, a dry or wet process. The Cu plugs 124 a and 124 b are formed in the vias by, for example, depositing a conformal barrier layer and a Cu layer and polishing the undesired portion with planarization, for example, a chemical mechanical polishing process.

Referring to FIG. 2D, the metal layer 126, the insulator 128 and the metal layer 130 are formed on the insulator 118 and the Cu plugs 124 a and 124 b. The metal layer 126, with a thickness ranging from about 300 Å to about 2,000 Å, will be formed as a lower electrode of the capacitor and a conductive wire for a part of the interconnections. The insulator 128, with a thickness ranging from about 100 Å to about 1,200 Å, will be formed as a capacitor insulator, however, the particular thickness of this insulator 128 depends on the particular application of the capacitor with a desired capacitance. The metal layer 130, with a thickness ranging from about 200 Å to about 1,500 Å, will be formed as a upper electrode of the capacitor. The material used 113 to form the metal layer 130 can be titanium (Ti), titanium nitride (TiN), tantalum (Ta), tantalum nitride (TaN), aluminum (Al), aluminum copper alloy (AlCu), or others. The material of the insulator 128 has a high dielectric constant, and can be silicon nitride (SiN), silicon oxynitride (SiON), silicon carbide (SiC), tantalum oxide (TaO₂), zirconium oxide (ZrO₂), hafnium oxide (HfO₂), aluminum oxide (Al₂O₃) or other high dielectric constant materials. The material used to form the metal layer 126 is any commonly used conductive material, for example aluminum (Al), aluminum copper alloy (AlCu), silver (Ag) or aurum (Au).

With Reference to FIG. 2E, the metal layer 130, the insulator and the metal layer 126 are patterned to obtain a conductive wire 126 b with an insulator 128 b and a metal layer 130 b thereon and a capacitor 132 comprising an upper electrode 130 a, a capacitor insulator 128 a and a lower electrode 126 a using a masking step and an etching step. When conducting the etching step, the insulator 118 functions as an etching stop layer.

For removing the undesired metal layer 130 b, another masking step and another etching step are executed as shown in FIGS. 2F˜2I.

With Reference to FIG. 2F, a sacrificial layer 160 is formed on the capacitor 132, the metal layer 130 b and the insulator 118 with a substantially flat surface. The sacrificial layer 160 is used to improve the subsequent photo process. The material used to form the sacrificial layer 160 can be polymer.

As shown in FIG. 2G, a patterned photoresist layer 162 is formed on the sacrificial layer 160. Because the underlayer, the sacrificial layer 160, has a flat surface, the patterned photoresist layer 162 can achieve the correct pattern after exposure and development.

The pattern of the patterned photoresist layer 162 corresponds roughly to that of the upper electrode 130 a. The area of the patterned photoresist layer 162 can be equal to, smaller than or larger than that of the upper electrode 130 a. In the figure, the area of the patterned photoresist layer 162 being larger than that of the upper electrode 130 a is taken as an example.

As shown in FIG. 2H, an etching step is executed to remove the metal layer 130 b as well as the uncovered sacrificial layer 160 using the patterned photoresist layer 162 as a mask. The sacrificial layer 160 can be thoroughly removed or partial removed for the uncovered portion.

As shown in FIG. 2I, the patterned photoresist layer 162 and the remaining sacrificial layer 160 are removed.

According to the above-mentioned steps, only one additional single mask is required to make the capacitor 132. Accordingly, the number of masking and etching steps in manufacturing an integrated circuit, including a capacitor, is reduced, as is the cost of manufacturing

Compared to the U.S. Pat. No. 6,180,976 B1, the capacitor 132 of the present invention has a relatively uniform and even capacitor insulator 128 a, because the lower electrode 126 a has a uniform and even surface formed by depositing and etching steps. Therefore, the capacitor 132 of the present invention has better electrical properties.

Now turning to FIG. 2J, an insulator 134 with good gap-filling properties covers the insulator 118, insulator 128 b and capacitor 132. The insulator 134 is formed by high-density plasma technology to deposit the silicon oxide, or by coating the silicon-on glass (SOG) or silicon-on polymer (SOP). A Ear blanket sacrificial insulator 136 is formed on the insulator 134. The blanket sacrificial insulator 136 is then subjected to a planarization process, for example a chemical mechanical polishing process. Therefore, the insulator 136 has a planar surface to facilitate the subsequent processes. For the convenience of description, the insulator 134 and the insulator 136 are referred to as insulator 138 in the following figures and specification.

A dual damascene process is performed, as shown in FIGS. 2K and 2L. The dual damascene patterns including trenches 142 and vias 140 are formed in the insulator 138 and insulator 128 b. The to-be-contact regions of the conductive wire 126 b and the upper electrode 130 a are exposed through the vias 140.

With Reference to FIG. 2L, a barrier layer (not shown) is conformally formed over the insulator 138, in the trenches 142 and vias 140. Cu metal is formed above the barrier layer and fills in the trenches 142 and vias 140. A chemical mechanical polishing process is performed to remove undesired Cu residue and the barrier layer to form Cu wires 148 a and 148 b and Cu plugs 146 a and 146 b. A sealing layer 150 is formed on the insulator 138 and the Cu wires 148 a and 148 b. The material used to fabricate the sealing layer 150 can be silicon nitride or silicon carbide, which are used in order to prevent the Cu atoms of the wires 148 a and 148 b from diffusing. The upper electrode 130 a is connected with the Cu wire 148 a through the Cu plug 146 a, and the conductive wire 126 b is connected with the Cu wire 148 b through the Cu plug 146 b.

Sequential interconnection processes (e.g. Cu processes) are performed until the interconnections are completed.

The above-mentioned insulators 102, 106, 116, 134 and 136 can be formed by low dielectric constant (K) materials, for example doped or undoped silicon oxide, SOP low K material, for example FLARE®, Si4C®, PAE-II® and so on, and CVD low K material, for example blackdiamond™ (BD™), Coral™, Greendot™, Aurora™ and so on.

While the present invention is described by preferred embodiments, it should be understood that the invention is not limited to these embodiments in any way. On the contrary, it is intended to cover all the modifications and arrangements as they would be apparent to those skilled in the art. Therefore, the scope of the appended claims should be interpreted in the broadest sense so as to encompass all the modifications and arrangements. 

What is claimed is:
 1. A metal capacitor in damascene structures, comprising: a first Cu wire and a second Cu wire located in a first insulator; a first sealing layer located on the first and the second Cu wires; a second insulator located on the first sealing layer; a third insulator located on the second insulator, and acting as an etch stop layer; a first Cu plug and a second Cu plug located in the first sealing layer, the second insulator and the third insulator; a capacitor located on the third insulator and the first Cu plug, the capacitor having an upper electrode, a capacitor dielectric and a bottom electrode with the same pattern each other, wherein the bottom electrode is connected to the first Cu wire through the first Cu plug; a conducting wire located on the third insulator and the second Cu plug, wherein the conducting wire is connected to the second Cu wire through the second Cu plug; a fourth insulator located on the conducting wire; a fifth insulator with a flat surface located on the upper electrode, the fourth insulator and the third insulator; a plurality of dual damascene structures including a third plug, a fourth Cu plug, a third Cu wire and a fourth Cu wire in the fifth insulator, wherein an upper electrode of the capacitor is connected to the third Cu wire through the third Cu plug, and the conducting wire is connected to the fourth Cu wire through the fourth Cu plug; and a second sealing layer located on the third and fourth Cu wires.
 2. The structure as claimed in claim 1, wherein the material of the bottom electrode and the conducting wire is Al, AlCu, Cu, Ag, or Au.
 3. The structure as claimed in claim 1, wherein the material of the fourth insulator is silicon nitride (SiN), silicon oxynitride (SiON), silicon carbide (SiC), tantalum oxide (TaO₂), zirconium oxide (ZrO₂), hafnium oxide (HfO₂), or alumium oxide (Al₂O₃).
 4. The structure as claimed in claim 1, wherein the material of the upper electrode is titanium (Ti), titanium nitride (TiN), tantalum (Ta), tantalum nitride (TaN), aluminum (Al), or aluminum copper alloy (AlCu).
 5. The structure as claimed in claim 1, wherein the thickness of the upper electrode ranges from 200 Å to 1,500 Å.
 6. The structure as claimed in claim 1, wherein the thickness of the bottom electrode and that of the conducting wire are the same, and ranging from 300 Å to 2,000 Å. 